Mount Evelyn DX Report

  KENWOOD R-5000 FEATURE IN THE SPECTRUM MONITOR For those of us who enjoy preserving and using older receivers, take a look at the February issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine. In it, you will find a five-page feature article I have written on the venerable Kenwood R-5000 receiver.   I discuss the history of both Kenwood and the radio, all the features and innovations that come with this rig, the ARRL lab tests, the differences between the R-5000 and the TS-440 transceiver, some of the worthwhile modifications that can be done to improve the rig, and I offer an honest performance appraisal. The Spectrum Monitor (TSM) covers plenty of interesting articles for radio enthusiasts. The February issue is no exception! You can read about the new switching technology for LF and MF antennas, geomagnetic storms and propagation, the scientist Oliver Lodge, the CONELRAD alert system from the Cold War era, plus columns on pirate radio stations, shortwave programming highlights, amateur...

  Writing Better Reception Reports To Radio Free Asia In an era where the paper QSL card is fast disappearing, it is great to see a radio station still connecting with shortwave listeners and DXers. I have always been impressed with the QSL policy of Radio Free Asia. This broadcaster continues to support the radio hobby with attractively designed QSL cards. RFA's latest QSL is a particularly striking design in shades of blue and white (see below), reminding us that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon. This tasteful and thoughtful design will look good in any listener's QSL collection! But, the station is looking for DETAILED AND ACCURATE reception reports. Unfortunately, some listeners let everyone else down by submitting sub-standard reception reports. Indeed, a few dishonest people have sent fake (!) reports to stations - reports written when they clearly didn't hear the station at all. These counterfeit reports give DXers a lousy name, and many stations have stopped sending Q...

  THE MYANMAR BROADCASTING SCENE Shortwave still makes up an essential part of the media landscape in Myanmar. However, confusion can sometimes arise when discussing the range of services operating in the country and broadcasts targeted directly to the Myanmar people by external stations. The following information may be helpful. There are two national or government-operated networks plus one station (also two networks) under the control of the country's military.  NATIONAL STATIONS : The first is the Myanma Radio National Service on 5985 and 9730 kHz in Burmese with 50 kW transmitters in Yangon, the country's former capital, until 2006. The schedule is: 0130-1130 on 9730 in Burmese 1130-1730 on 5985 in Burmese 2300-0130 on 5985 in Burmese and occasionally in English. The second is Myanma Radio's Minorities Service on 5915v kHz from 2330 to 1400 UTC via a 50kW transmitter. It can be heard in Karen, Shan, Mon and other local languages. The transmitter site for the Minoriti...

  SHORTWAVE RADIO ANNIVERSARIES A reflection on some radio birthdays in 2023 Sure, birthdays come around every year. But some birthdays seem more significant than others. Especially those with a zero on the end!  In many countries, public radio broadcasts started during the 1920s. For example, in the U.S., it is reported that the first scheduled commercial radio broadcast was made on November 2, 1920, under the callsign KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA.  In Australia, the first radio licence was granted in 1921 to station 2CM, broadcasting from the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney. So, as we continue through the 2020s, we can expect to see a number of broadcasters celebrating centennial milestones. In September, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) celebrated its 95th anniversary. The station was an early adopter of the shortwave medium with broadcasts to Asia, Europe and North America. Today, the shortwave service utilizes transmitter sites in Taiwan, Bulgaria and the USA to provide broadca...

TEENAGE AMATEUR RADIO OPS.  GET NATIONAL TV EXPOSURE Well....actually, they have now received international exposure! I don't have too much to say about this except that I really enjoyed how the whole school community got to be present for the QSO with the International Space Station. Congratulations to all who contributed to this project! Great stuff! 73,  Rob Wagner VK3BVW Follow @robvk3bvw CLICK HERE for VK3BVW Live Stream (Clublog) QRZ callsign lookup: Search Callsign lookups provided by qrz.com © Rob Wagner, Mount Evelyn DX Report, and contributors 2012-2024